Managing a household budget in today’s fast-paced world can be difficult, especially when providing nutritious meals for your family. With supermarket prices on the rise, many families are finding it challenging to stick to a budget while feeding everyone.
However, with a little organization, ingenuity, and smart shopping, you can provide your family $100 per week without sacrificing nutrition or taste.
Week Meal Plan For Feeding Your Family For $100
Day 1
Breakfast
Perfect scrambled eggs (2 eggs per person, half and half instead of heavy whipping cream), ham, and avocado slices.
Lunch
Sandwiches with deli meat with vegetable sticks
Dinner
Homemade chili (use 2 cans of chili beans, skip the extra chili toppings, and keep the leftovers for tomorrow)
Day 2
Breakfast
Apple oatmeal in the slow cooker (refrigerate leftovers)
Lunch
Hummus with veggie slices and a hard-cooked egg.
Dinner
Grilled sweet potatoes with leftover chili.
Day 3
Breakfast
Apple oatmeal from the slow cooker
Lunch
Sandwiches with deli meat and veggie sticks
Dinner
Slow cooker salsa chicken, Mexican-style rice, and black beans.
Day 4
Breakfast
Denver omelet with chopped ham, onions, and peppers (learn how to make a flawlessly fluffy omelet)
Lunch
soup with tomatoes and lentils.
Dinner
Leftover salsa chicken tacos on flour tortillas with grated cheddar cheese for dinner
Day 5
Breakfast
Breakfast tacos with eggs and veggies on flour tortillas, topped with shredded cheddar cheese and avocado slices (2 eggs per person, half and half instead of heavy whipping cream, sauté onions and red bell peppers for filling)
Lunch
Lunch will consist of leftover tomato lentil soup and grilled cheese sandwiches (with shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheese).
Dinner
Bacon fried rice.
Day 6
To allow for sleeping in, weekend activities, and so on, I’m opting for a more extended brunch rather than breakfast + lunch.
Brunch
Banana-egg pancakes, pork breakfast sausage, roasted sweet potatoes (make two: one for today’s brunch and one for tomorrow’s brunch)
Dinner
Tortilla shell pizzas on flour tortillas with shredded mozzarella cheese for dinner. (Clean the refrigerator for toppings such as onion, bell peppers, ham, leftover breakfast sausage, tomato, etc.)
Day 7
To allow for sleeping in, weekend activities, and so on, I’m opting for a more extended brunch rather than breakfast + lunch.
Brunch
avocado toast, roasted sweet potatoes from the night before, and breakfast sausage from the night before
Dinner
Creamy vegetable soup with cheese quesadilla (use any leftover onion, celery, carrots, corn, and peas from the week).
What You’ll Need Throughout the Week?
- 1 pound of frozen ground beef
- 1 frozen pound pork breakfast sausage
- 2 steaks of ham
- 3 pounds of chicken thighs
- 3 dozen eggs
- 16 oz. Shredded cheddar cheese
- shredded mozzarella cheese (16 oz)
- 1 pound deli meat of your choice
- 1/2 cup pre-cooked bacon from the salad bar at the grocery store (or cook your own and cut into bits)
- 1/2 gallon of milk
- 1-gallon half-and-half
- 1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
- 2 cans (16 oz. each) of chili beans
- 3 cans (14.5 oz. each) chopped tomatoes
- Tomato salsa in a 24-ounce jar
- 1 to 2 hummus containers (2 if you enjoy hummus and veggies as a snack)
- 1 can (14 oz.) black beans
- 1 (16-ounce) bag frozen corn
- 1 frozen pea bag (10 oz.)
- 1 bag long grain rice (you’ll need 2 cups, but a vast bag will save you money)
- Cubes of chicken bouillon
- 1 cup lentils (brown or French)
- 2-pound loaf bread (I used sourdough)
- 20-pack regular-size flour tortillas
- Steel-cut oats in a 25-ounce package.
- 3 bell peppers, any color (red, yellow, orange, or green)
- 4 large sweet potatoes or yams (if only small sweet potatoes are available, purchase 8 for the week)
- 5 pears
- 6 bananas
- 3-pound yellow onions
- 3-pound package carrots
- 4 avocados
- 2 tomatoes, Roma
Some Guidelines For Creating A Healthy Meal Plan
Use these suggestions to make a nutritious meal plan on a budget every week.
1. Examine The Weekly Grocery Specials
Proteins, such as chicken or beef, are typically the most expensive products on the grocery list, so arrange your meals around things that are on sale. Consider seasonal produce, which is typically less expensive, such asparagus in the spring and fresh berries in the summer.
2. Create A Low-Cost Fridge And Pantry
Stock up on inexpensive necessities such as eggs and canned tuna that can be used in several meals throughout the week. Hard-boiled eggs give protein to your avocado toast in the morning or your child’s lunchbox. Canned tuna doubles as a quick meal-prep filling for lunch wraps and melts for a quick dinner. Look out for bargains and stock up when items are on sale.
3. Include A Few Meatless Meals
Plant-based proteins, such as lentils and canned beans, are less expensive than animal proteins. Furthermore, studies suggest that consuming more vegetables is beneficial to our health. Include a couple of meatless alternatives for breakfast, lunch, supper, and snacks throughout the week.
4. Consider Dinner Theme Nights
Assigning theme-night meals based on different meal types (such as Slow-Cooker Sunday, Meatless Monday, or Stir-Fry Friday) or pantry staples (such as Rice Bowl Thursday or Pasta Wednesday) is an excellent way to stick to your budget while also reducing meal-planning decision fatigue. It’s also a good idea to have a leftover night.
5. Make The Most Of The Leftovers
Pack tonight’s leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch, or turn whatever is left into another family supper. Make loaded sweet potatoes with leftover chili, a frittata with any cooked spaghetti noodles leftover, or burritos with the remainder of a roasted chicken.
Feeding your family on $100 a week is doable with careful planning, smart shopping, and creative meal preparation. You can offer nutritious and enjoyable meals for your family without breaking the bank by understanding your budget, planning your meals sensibly, embracing clever buying tactics, and researching budget-friendly recipes.
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